You’re still breastfeeding? How old is your daughter?
Yes, I still nurse my daughter, who is almost 21-months-old.
OK, that’s cool, but this topic makes me uncomfortable. Can we still be friends if I don’t read this article?
Sure, why don’t you check out these photos my husband and I took on our recent hike to the top of Spencer’s Butte. I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable, but I do think it’s important to raise awareness about this topic.
Are you some kind of breastfeeding activist?
Not exactly. I’ve never been very comfortable nursing in public, and I never nurse her in public now that she eats solid foods regularly. But I would like to live in a society where any woman would feel comfortable nursing in public — since breastmilk is the healthiest possible food you can give a baby.
Is it normal to breastfeed a toddler? I thought you were only supposed to nurse until age 1.
Both the World Health Organization and UNICEF recommend breastfeeding until two years or more. Check out this Huffington Post article for more on the topic. True it is not the norm in the U.S., but Americans have very low rates of breastfeeding when compared to the rest of the world.
But doesn’t it hurt? Toddlers have lots of teeth.
Imagine sucking your thumb. Would that hurt? Sometimes babies go through biting phases, but if they want to continue nursing they will learn not to do so.
My pediatrician said there was no medical reason to breastfeed past age 1.
This is what my daughter’s former pediatrician implied, and although he was a very nice man, he was apparently misinformed about this topic. According to the Mayo Clinic “Breast milk is considered the gold standard for infant nutrition…There’s no known age at which breast milk is considered to become nutritionally insignificant for a child.” In addition to high nutritional value, breast milk also contains your antibodies to viruses, which can help your toddler stay healthy while her immune system is still developing. Extended breastfeeding also has many positive benefits to the mother’s health including reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancers.
I weaned my baby when I went back to work at 3 months. Are you trying to make me feel bad about myself?
No way girlfriend. Being a mom is oh so challenging — we’re all just trying to do the best we can, right? In fact, nursing a newborn was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever had to do, so kudos to you if you made it through these early weeks!
